Gods of Malcea ✔️

T H I R T Y - S E V E N

"It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust."

-Xamdú

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Fariel saw as a town popped up in the distance. He had been walking for hours in this land covered with sand and puddles of water from melting snow. The sun beat down against his skin but he did not mind it, rather he embraced it. People's voices filled his ears causing him to close his eyes before reopening them again. If a blacksmith was not here in Ku, he would have to resort to other means.

As he approached the town, the looks and stares began. He did not look like the rest of them, brown-skinned with thick, black ribbons of hair. Everything had gotten quiet as he passed through the stalls and crowded streets. Unlike Ganashians, Ulnians knew a dragon when they saw one. His kind had hunted them for thousands and thousands of years, after all. He did not expect to be welcomed with open arms.

He stopped just as he was about to pass a stall filled with weapons to sell. They were not obsidian, but the man may know of someone who does make them.

"You there."

The man looked up at him with fearless eyes filled with hate. It was as expected. He spat and whispered curses under his breath not bothering to meet his eyes again.

"Do you know of any other blacksmiths that make obsidian weapons these days?"

"No."

"No?"

"Too many of yer kind comin' over round here," the man spat. "I want nothing to do with ye'."

"Spare me your sob story. I do not care. All I ask for is information."

"It is not something I am so willin to part with," the man hissed causing Fariel to lean against the booth.

"Do not make this any more difficult than it needs to be, human. The gwasas will be here soon after feeding off of the bodies at Visnu."

The man spat on his face causing Fariel to close his eyes and purse his lips. He clenched one of his hands into a fist as his other hand tightened around the man's neck. It had been such a long time since he snuffed the life out of a human. His eyes narrowed as he heard the man struggling to breathe. He felt his hands digging into his skin but he did not loosen his grip.

"I will talk!" The man tapped at his hand. "I will talk!"

"Oh?" Fariel mused before letting him go.

He let the man catch his breath before giving the man a shove.

"Speak."

"I do not know of a blacksmith who makes those weapons but I do know of a man who had come around asking the same questions as you!"

Fariel's eyes narrowed.

"Was he a dragon, perhaps?"

The man shook his head.

"No, he was of some other kind," the man rasped as Fariel threw him away from himself.

Oraanu? It had to be him. He always seemed to appear whenever he was on the verge of discovering a way to help Karos. Whether he had seduced him purposely or not, Fariel knew he had to keep alert. He could not play at love and romance, no matter how much he ached for it. Love always had its price and it was a price he was not willing to pay this time around.

"What time did you last see him?"

"At first light," the man rasped.

"When?"